


A Time For Softness

by Krasimer



Series: I Always Swore I Was Going To Marry Him Someday [5]
Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Best Friends, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Falling In Love, I don't believe Lisa and Henry suddenly got together, Larry says some stuff, Love Confessions, M/M, Mind Manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 13:31:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17581802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: There is something worrying about the way their parents are acting.Larry watched as his mother hummed practically dancing as she moved around the kitchen and put the dishes away. She had just come back from Sal’s apartment, from talking to his dad—And something about everything was wrong.





	A Time For Softness

There is something worrying about the way their parents are acting.

Larry watched as his mother hummed practically dancing as she moved around the kitchen and put the dishes away. She had just come back from Sal’s apartment, from talking to his dad—

And something about everything was _wrong._

In the entire time they had known each other, Larry’s mom had never once liked Sal’s dad. Henry Fisher had pissed her off from day one because he’d been so distant towards his own son. Larry himself was awfully fond of Sal, having entered his number first thing into his phone when he’d gotten one, but that same fondness was not shared between the two generations. His mom liked Sal, loved him like a son, but she hadn’t been happy to see Henry Fisher, before.

And she certainly hadn’t hummed and danced after seeing him.

Larry ducked his head back down, gripping his pencil tighter as his mom moved past him. Something was wrong, something was happening, and he was almost sure it was related to the cult. Something had been done to their parents –

Sal had mentioned his father reacting a little like Larry’s mother.

Like the kid down the hall had gotten together with the one girl he’d ever interacted with, with a baby _on the way_ , Larry thought there had to be something about the apartment building that made this happen. Larry had never once seen his mother behaving like a teenager without a care. She had once made a promise that it would be her and him standing strong as a family.

He’d also heard her cussing Henry Fisher out in Spanish before, so there was that.

The feeling of being watched climbed up the back of his neck and Larry shook his head. He shuffled his homework together and stood up, grabbing it all and heading towards his room. “Gonna go see Sal,” he told his mom. “I’ll be back for dinner.”

“That’s fine, Larry,” she smiled at him and there was something in her eyes. Something that wasn’t her, not anymore if it ever was.

He had to figure out what was happening.

When he got to his room, he dropped all of his stuff on his desk, then flopped into the beanbag pile on the floor. Since he’d hit a growth spurt, he’d gotten a few new ones. They were still one of Sal’s favorite places to sit. Pulling out his phone, he typed out a text to Sal.

_‘Mom’s humming and doing chores’_

With a shake of his head, Larry closed his eyes and put his phone against his chin.

If his mother had actually been happy and meeting someone she hadn’t previously always been angry at, he would have accepted it. His mother’s happiness meant a lot to him – they’d only had each other for the longest time, it had just been _them_.

His phone buzzed and Larry clicked the buttons until he saw the messages from Sal.

_‘let me ask’_

Followed by-

‘ _dad asked her on an actual date.’_

Larry frowned at his phone, dialing Sal’s number quickly. Sal picked up the line after barely even half a ring. “So does this strike you as weird at all?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Larry nodded, even though the other couldn’t see him. Talking to Sal still gave him butterflies in his stomach, though they hadn’t done anything more than made out a couple of times and gone on a few small dates. Larry hadn’t wanted to push for something official yet, given that Sal seemed really into Ashe as well. “I don’t know if it’s a small town thing or an ‘our apartment is the base of a cult’ thing.”

“Our parents don’t get along!” Sal’s voice was confused and exasperated. “My dad doesn’t say anything about her and suddenly he’s happy and smiling and planning a date?”

“It’s weird,” Larry stood up and moved to his bed, flopping down and arranging his hair around his head in a fan. “My mom has cussed your dad out before, I don’t know what’s going on? I mean…I know some people can change and start getting along, but the last time I heard her _literally_ actually _cursing his name_ was nine days ago.” Larry let his gaze slide across the ceiling to where he knew Sal was sitting in his room, several floors up.

Sal coughed, muttering something, then spoke up. “What does it mean for us if our parents get together?”

“I—” Larry sat up again, almost pitching off his bed and bracing himself with a hand curled in his blankets. “What do you mean?” he tried to keep himself from ramping up his excitement, from letting it get the better of him.

“I mean… _Us._ ” Sal sounded embarrassed. “What we do with each other.”

Larry swallowed his nerves. “Uh, hey, Sally Face?”

“Yeah, Larry Face?”

“Do you really think there is anything short of the end of the world that would keep me from you?” he said the words, managing to be calm about them until he actually got the full sentence out. Sal didn’t need to know _exactly_ how far gone he was, didn’t need to know how much Larry would do to keep him happy.

On Sal’s end of the line, he heard a strangled noise followed by the sound of the phone hitting the ground.

Larry winced. “Sal?”

There was no response.

He tried again, feeling his gut curl into knots. He had to have pissed Sal off, somehow. Maybe the other boy didn’t want to be with him the way Larry wanted? Maybe Sal just wanted it to be casual. Maybe, maybe, too many maybes, not enough actual answers. “Sal,” he cleared his throat. “Can you hear me?”

Larry glanced towards the wall as the rattle of the elevator sounded, breaking his mood for a minute. “I’m sorry,” he muttered into the phone. “That was probably a bit too much. I mean, I just…” he sighed slapping his hand over his face. “I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know how casual you want this to be, I don’t know if you want to stay with me, I don’t know if you want to leave me for Ashe or if you…I don’t know?

“All I know,” Larry sighed. If he were going to drive Sal away, he may as well let him know the full truth of it. “Is that I think I love you?”

His door burst open and then his lap was full of Sal.

The shorter boy leaned against him until Larry’s back was on the bed again, his prosthetic already off and in his hand and he angled his head and kissed Larry like he was trying to draw his soul out of his body.

“Mm!” Larry squeaked, dropping his phone and wrapping his arms around Sal. His hair was down today, creating a curtain around them as he pressed even further into Larry’s personal space. “Mm,” he slid a hand into the wild blue waves, deepening the angle of the kiss. Eventually, Sal sat back, both of them breathing hard as they processed what had just happened.

“You’re a dork,” Sal grinned at him. “You love me?”

“I think so, yeah,” Larry shuffled around until his elbows were supporting him. “What was that about?”

“You’re a dork,” Sal said again, nudging their foreheads together. “You were saying dork things and I just…I needed to kiss you, right then. Right away.” He tilted his head and pressed a kiss against Larry’s cheek. “Because you were just…You say the right things. You do the right things and you say the right things and you believe me when things sound crazy and you go along with my bad ideas.”

“Well, yeah,” Larry laughed, nudging Sal so that they were laying next to each other, then sitting up to hover over him. “I want to be with you forever, Sal.”

“I want that too,” Sal’s face dimpled when he smiled, the scar tissue twisting.

 

There wasn’t a forever.

Not for them.

Larry felt himself flickering as he tried to stay stable, his hands clenching in his pockets as he manifested in the treehouse. Ashe was there, saying something about Sal, something that had panicked him. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed between the last time he had managed to make himself seen and now, wasn’t clear on how much he had lost track of.

But Sal was in danger—

With a flash, a dizzying brightness, he winced back. Ashe had taken a photo of him. He couldn’t hold himself together after that, but he could return to the darkness and scream at how unfair it all was.

He had lost _everything._

**Author's Note:**

> Uh...So...How about that new chapter of the game, huh?


End file.
